Smriti Irani's warning

IN Media Watch Briefs | 25/08/2017
Even as television channels bore the brunt of the violence that broke out in Haryana and parts of Delhi after Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Singh was convicted of rape, I & B minister Smriti Irani tweeted a veiled warning to television channels drawing attention to Clause B of the NBSA code on spreading panic, distress and undue fear! She was swiftly pilloried on Twitter for it.  If she also asked her party's government in Haryana to ensure the safety of journalists, there was no evidence of it.                    
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The new term for self censorship is voluntary censorship, as proposed by companies like Netflix and Hotstar. ET reports that streaming video service Amazon Prime is opposing a move by its peers to adopt a voluntary censorship code in anticipation of the Indian government coming up with its own rules. Amazon is resisting because it fears that it may alienate paying subscribers.                   

Clearly, the run to the 2019 elections is on. A journalist received a call from someone saying they were from Aajtak channel and were conducting a survey, asking whom she was going to vote for in 2019. On being told that her vote was secret, the caller assumed she wasn't going to vote for 'Modiji'. The caller, a woman, also didn't identify herself. A month or two earlier the same journalist received a call, this time from a man, asking if she was going to vote for the BSP.                 

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